Any news on what is to become of the old Fairlaen Nursery site? 
It is on agenda for our next Assemly on Tuesday 7pm at Sydenham Girls in Dartmouth Road.
Come and participate.
Thank you for reply. Unfortunately I already have plans for Tuesday that can’t be changed, but I’m sure an up-date will be posted here?
@MajaHilton I can’t make Tuesday either but would be very keen to know what is proposed. Its an important town centre site for community and nursery uses. Although I am sure it could accommodate some housing too!
Yes I agree. Hopefully Sainsbury’s don’t get the land 
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Is that Tuesday 27th June? Could you share what the actual agenda is? Are there any options listed for discussion or is it totally open for ideas?
Fairlawn Nursery site is on the Agenda. Jeff is there as he knows the site but he needs local perspective on what community usage would be best for it.
Not in the cards at all.
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Any updates on this after yesterday’s meeting? I wanted to attend but didn’t make it back from work on time.
Below is the update provided for the meeting last night
Waldenshaw Road site - Update for Forest Hill Ward Assembly 27th June 2017
Background to nursery Closure
Fairlawn Primary’s nursery class which previously operated out of the Waldenshaw Road site closed in August 2016. The decision to close was made by the school’s governing body because it was no longer financially viable to keep the nursery open. The reasons cited by the school were falling numbers and high running costs of the separate building and site.
The building has now been returned to the Council. It has not been re-opened as it is un-economical in its current state.
What is the Council planning on doing with the site?
The Council is in the process of putting together a team to run a project which will look at options for the future of the site. The current building doesn’t make best use of the land it sits on, and so over the coming months we will look at the potential for redeveloping the site. Our thinking at this stage is that this would involve a non-housing use on the ground floor, and then new homes above.
The homes themselves could be for a range of purposes, but the Council has an objective to build at least 500 new Council homes, and the site could contribute towards that programme. Equally a range of other useful housing approaches could be considered.
On the ground floor provision, we would want to consult with local residents and groups about how it can work best for the community. Our ideas at this early stage include re-providing a nursery, or a new GP surgery. At this stage we believe the site on its own is likely to be too small for a doctor’s surgery, but we are liaising with Lewisham CCG on the potential for branch surgery instead.
As well as our ideas we also want to hear from the community about what would be most useful on the site, and we will be carrying out consultation from late summer/autumn once the project team is in place.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about this project, please contact: housingstrategy@lewisham.gov.uk
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Thank you very much for the update. Both a GP surgery and a nursery seem like good ideas.
Any of those ideas seem a good idea. But a doctors surgery I think would be very useful.
The people who live on Waldenshaw Road, a notorious rat run, may not agree with you.
Are you concerned about the impact on parking for residents? It is a CPZ in any case right?
It is a CPZ yes. On contemplating this I guess with the Sainsbury’s having parking there is no issue for drivers using the surgery. I just wonder how many flats they will try to squeeze in and where these people will park?
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The building itself will need a lot of work done to it before anything can be considered. I know because I worked at the nursery, hence my interest!
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They’ll demolish the existing building and start again I’m sure. It’s so close to the station/buses so I don’t think it would have any car parking. I can’t recall Lewisham planning policy but the scheme is likely to work without it and it would allow best use of the site for new homes and other uses
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Yes, and no. I got this email from the Lewisham ‘New Initiatives Team’ back in June. Yes in the sense I have an update and no in the sense I have no idea what is happening.
Lewisham Homes Development New Initiatives team, on behalf of Lewisham Council are exploring locations in the Borough where there may be potential for new social rented housing. Approval is being sought from Mayor and Cabinet to explore the potential for any new housing at the old Fairlawn Nursey site that would viable and undertake technical and legal due diligence.
If approval is given a consultant team will be appointed and we will get the insight from the local community through a series of engagement opportunities so that local insight can be gained to influence the analysis of any potential redevelopment. We would want local residents to meet the architect and attend a ‘walk and talk’ (this can be virtually through lockdown) of the site. We would like to explore local views on their ideas and concerns from the outset. We will establish an opportunity for the community to give their anonymous comments digitally if that is their preference too.
Merged into existing topic thread
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Given the location (trains into London Bridge and the over ground, existing utilities and sought-after shops and amenities a stone’s throw away), Lewisham would be mad not to sell it on to a private developer.